


Jamie's Got a Prom Date

by Dragon_Lord



Series: High School AU [2]
Category: Zoo (TV)
Genre: F/M, High School AU, prom is still a big deal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-03
Updated: 2016-09-03
Packaged: 2018-08-12 19:13:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7945921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dragon_Lord/pseuds/Dragon_Lord
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A High School AU sequel in which Jamie and Mitch are going to prom together, but it's definitely Not a Date.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Jamie's Got a Prom Date

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I still don't own Zoo or its characters.

_May - Junior Year_

It was 6:50 and Jamie could not stop fidgeting. As much as she tried to resist, she couldn’t keep from pushing her bangs to the side, picking at her fingernails, folding and unfolding the creases in the skirt of her dress. She had no reason to be nervous. Absolutely none at all. Because this wasn’t a date. The mantra echoed through her head over and over: _Not a date, not a date, not a date_. She wasn’t sure why she had to keep telling herself that, but for whatever reason, the very possibility of going on an actual date with Mitch made her nauseous. And so the mantra continued.

Looking to the mirror in the corner of her bedroom, she focused on giving herself another once-over, a distraction. Her dress wasn’t exactly new. It was a thrift store find, albeit a nice one. Periwinkle blue, strapless, and with a nice, full skirt that came to a stop just below her knees. Jamie clutched her sheer shawl tighter around freckled shoulders and turned to view the back, neck craning.

It wasn’t a date, right? They’d both agreed it wasn’t. She and Mitch were friends, maybe even best friends, and he was merely giving her a ride to prom because it was convenient. Not because they were dating. They were going together, but they weren’t _going together_. It was just a ride. Like when Chloe gave her rides to Abe and Jackson’s football games. It was a thing that friends, best friends, did for each other. Simple as that.

God, she was overthinking it again, wasn’t she? She took a few deep breaths in an attempt to relax and completely missed the chime of the doorbell. From downstairs, her mother called, “Jamie! Your date is here!”

Jamie rolled her eyes and hurried out of the room, concentrating on not tripping in her new heels. Down in the foyer, her mother had already opened the door and was greeting Mitch, who looked a tad uncomfortable, but surprisingly nice, in his suit. As she approached, Jamie noted with a small smile that for once, his hair was actually combed.

“I told you, Mom,” she said, “he’s not my date. We’re just going as friends.”

“Right,” she grinned, patting her headscarf absently. “Then, your _very handsome_ friend is here.”

Mitch looked, if possible, even more uncomfortable, but he cracked a smile. Jamie, however, turned a deep shade of pink. In her embarrassment, all she could think to say was, “Oh my god, Mom!”

“So,” Mitch cleared his throat, “ready to go?”

“Yes,” Jamie said eagerly. “Please.”

Mrs. Campbell held up her hands. “Wait, wait! Let me get the camera!” She hurried out of the foyer, ignoring her daughter’s groan. Jamie turned to the still-smirking Mitch with an apologetic look.

“Sorry about this,” she sighed. “I told her it wasn’t a date.”

“It’s fine, I don’t mind. She, uh, seems to be doing well.”

“Yeah, this was one of her good days.” Jamie nodded, smiling softly.

He paused. “You look really nice, by the way.”

She gave a nervous, involuntary giggle (which she immediately regretted) and for the first time, noticed the tie he was wearing: blue. A light blue, almost periwinkle—nearly the same shade as her dress. This detail caused within her equal bursts of happiness and dread and she was so taken aback that she didn’t get a chance to respond to what he said before her mother re-entered.

“Found it!” she trilled, triumphantly holding up the digital camera. Urging the teens together with a wiggle of her fingers, still grinning. “Now, come on, you two. Big smiles!”

They both complied half-heartedly and posed for the small flurry of photos Mrs. Campbell snapped before Jamie finally threatened to take the camera away. At that point, her mother sent them off with a wave and a command to be back by eleven.

The ten-minute car ride to the school was, thankfully, not awkward. Jamie chose not to mention the tie to him. Instead, the two made bets on whether or not the punch would be spiked and who’d get told off for inappropriate behavior. When they pulled up to the school, Jamie was snorting with laughter, reminiscing about last year’s prom, when one of the other football players had pantsed Jackson on the dance floor.

Whatever song was already playing in the gymnasium had a strong bassline that could be heard, even felt, halfway across the parking lot. It only got louder the closer they got and when Mitch pulled open the doors, the sound nearly knocked them both off their feet. It was some glitzy pop number, and half the teens who filled the room wall-to-wall were singing along enthusiastically, punch glasses raised. Together, Mitch and Jamie made their way along the edge of the crowd in search of familiar faces.

“This has gotta be in violation of the fire code or something,” he grumbled loudly.

“Don’t be so grumpy,” chided Jamie. She finally spotted Abe across the room, only because he was the tallest of them all. “Oh, that’s them over there, c’mon!”

She took hold of his elbow and pulled him along to where the group was congregated. Hugs and high-fives were passed around and Jamie took a moment to observe how different her friends looked in their formalwear. Chloe was especially elegant in a slim, cream-colored gown, while Dariela wore a shade of red that contrasted beautifully with her tanned skin. And, though Jamie would never see Jackson or Abe as anything other than brothers, they both cut very dashing figures in their suits.

“How’s it going?” she called over the music.

“A little boring so far,” Jackson replied with a shrug. “But the night’s young.”

“You remember to wear a belt this year?” asked Mitch, who received only a middle finger in answer. He laughed.

Chloe’s eyes suddenly widened as they darted over Jamie’s shoulder. Gently pulling her closer, she said, “Don’t look now, but Logan’s staring at you.”

Jamie stiffened, didn’t dare turn around. Beside her, Dariela rolled her eyes.

“Ugh,” she groaned. “What does he want?” She was something of a newcomer to the group. But though he didn’t look it, Abe was a notorious gossip. Due to their relationship, Dariela knew about the situation with Logan even before Mitch did.

Overcoming her shock, Jamie shook her head, put on a fake smile. “He’s probably just surprised to see me is all. I think he thought I wasn’t going.”

“Want me to talk to him?” Mitch asked. She looked at him with confusion.

“What for?”

He shrugged, hands in his pockets. “I dunno, just to… tell him to mind his own business?”

“No, it’s okay. He’s not causing any trouble,” she replied before changing the subject. She really didn’t want to talk about Logan right now, or maybe ever again. “So, Jackson, rumor has it you’ve got detention every night next week. What did you do this time?”

It worked. Jackson began to tell the exciting tale of how he managed to get assigned a week’s worth of detention from the principal herself, and Jamie listened intently with the others, glad to not be the center of attention anymore. Instead, she observed Chloe, who was watching Jackson with a sickeningly sweet grin on her face.

That relationship had been nearly two years in the making. Jamie had watched them from the start with an odd intuition that it’d happen eventually. She didn’t usually have a sixth sense for those kinds of things, but it was pretty obvious in their case. And now, as happy as she was that they’d finally taken that step, she hoped they wouldn’t be so disgustingly cute forever.

She caught Mitch’s eye and discreetly jerked her head toward the couple before pulling an exaggerated kissy face. He snorted with laughter, tried to pass it off as a cough while Jamie stifled her giggle. She didn’t even realize Jackson had stopped talking until Abe spoke up.

“How’d that dissection of yours go, in Bio? We’re starting on those next week.”

“Ugh, that,” Jamie shuddered. “Absolutely disgusting. I can’t even look at frogs anymore.”

“Nah, you did fine,” Mitch assured her, putting an arm around her shoulders and looking down at her with a joking smile. “We made a good team. Can’t wait ‘til we get to raise the flour sack baby together.”

Jamie tried not to blush as she pushed him off, smiling. “That’s Home Ec, you idiot!”

“Right, right,” he laughed.

The next hour was spent in and out of group dances. And after the Electric Slide, the Cupid Shuffle, and two encores of the Macarena, all six of them were exhausted. Mitch least of all, since he stuck to the sidelines, insisting that any of those dances would ‘ruin his cool exterior.’

Spent, the teens slouched against the bottom row of bleachers, watching their peers.

“Anyone want some punch?” Jackson offered. “Should be spiked by now.”

Chloe and Dariela both raised their hands.

“I’ll go, too,” Mitch said. “You want some?” He lightly placed a hand on Jamie’s back, completely distracting her. She could only stare at him blankly.

“What?”

“Punch,” he clarified with a smile. “Do you want some?”

“Oh! Yeah,” she answered, shaking her head. “Yes, that would be great.”

He and Jackson left, Abe tagging along, and as they were swallowed up by the crowd, the girls were left alone. Jamie could hear them chatting about Dariela’s latest softball game, but she wasn’t really paying attention—she was oddly distracted tonight.

“So,” Dariela said, turning to Jamie with a polite smile, “you and the Brain are a thing, huh?”

Jamie’s eyes widened. “Me and Mitch? Oh, no, we’re not! No, he just gave me a ride, that’s all.”

She’d told Chloe almost immediately after he’d asked her, of course. Carefully keeping her phone hidden beneath her desk, eyeing her Geometry teacher warily, making it clear within the text that it was Not a Date. Chloe hadn’t really believed her then, and she was smirking now.

“His tie matches your dress,” she said simply. “That’s a date thing.”

“So he’s color-coordinated, big deal!” Jamie crossed her arms defensively, pulled her shawl tighter. “It’s probably just a coincidence anyway.”

“Did he already know what color your dress was gonna be?” Dariela offered.

Jamie opened her mouth to say no, but in a moment, she recalled the conversation they’d had in the hallway that day, how she’d teasingly told him about her periwinkle-blue dress. Shutting her mouth and shifting in her seat, she nodded mutely.

“Well then,” the other girl smirked. “Sounds like you’ve got yourself a date, sister. Congrats!”

“I really don’t think that—"

“Hey, Jamie?”

Oh god, it was him. Logan. Jamie turned stiffly to find him standing right in front of her, gray eyes wide and tentative smile on his lips, which she didn’t return.

“Logan,” she replied. “Hi.”

He cleared his throat awkwardly, hands stuffed in his pockets. “Can we talk, uh, alone?”

Every fiber of her being was telling Jamie to say no but something made her hesitate. Maybe it was lingering feelings, or his puppy dog stare, but she found herself nodding against her better judgement. He smiled and she rose, following him away from the girls, who watched with concern.

When a safe distance was reached, Jamie stopped and watched Logan solemnly, refusing to speak first. He sighed, looked at his feet, looked at her, finally said, “I didn’t think you’d come tonight. Heard you didn’t have a date.”

“I don’t,” she said. “I’m here with a friend.”

He nodded, an unreadable expression crossing his face. “Mitch.”

“Yeah,” Jamie replied. “Mitch.”

“Listen, Jamie,” He paused, she raised her eyebrows.

“I’m listening,” she sighed.

“I’m sorry,” Logan started. “I’m sorry I never asked you out, or if you thought I was leading you on or something. But I didn’t know!”

“You didn’t know what?”

“I didn’t know that you wanted to go to prom with me!”

Jamie scoffed and took a moment to watch the dancefloor, full of her classmates happily gyrating to the upbeat music blaring through the speakers. Across the room, she caught a glimpse of the punch table—empty. The boys were probably already on their way back. She turned back to Logan sadly.

“Didn’t you want to go with me?”

“Of course I did,” he said, but Jamie couldn’t see much honesty in his eyes.

“So,” she replied, “why didn’t you at least ask?”

He ran a hand over his closely-cropped hair. “Honestly, I thought you were already seeing someone.”

“Who?” Jamie’s brow wrinkled as she struggled to remember ever mentioning a boyfriend to him and came up empty. “Who did you think I was seeing?”

He stared at her, waiting for her to answer her own question. Jamie’s eyes widened.

“What, Mitch? Seriously?”

Logan narrowed his eyes. “Come on, Jamie. You talked about the guy all the time! What was I supposed to think?”

“We, we’re friends,” Jamie said, for what felt like the millionth time that night. “We’re best friends, that’s all.”

Shrugging, he replied, “You made it sound like he hung the moon for you.”

“Great analysis, Jimmy Stewart.”

He was growing irritated. “Look, point is, I didn’t ask you cause I thought you were taken, so I asked Dana, who _wasn’t_ taken. Okay?”

“Scuse me—"

Jamie blinked and suddenly Mitch was standing next to them, clutching a pair of punch glasses, half full. He nodded curtly to Logan before turning his attentions on her.

“Jamie, you wanna dance?”

“Yes,” she blurted. Her brain caught up a second later and before she could take it back, say something else, anything else, she was on the dancefloor, with only the vaguest memory of how she’d gotten there.

The song had changed—when had it changed?—and slowed down to a more serene pace, cueing couples around them to bring each other close. Jamie’s mouth ran dry and beside her, Mitch stiffened. For a full ten seconds, the two just stared at each other before Mitch seemed to shake himself out of his stupor. Reached for her waist hesitantly, eyebrows raised, as if seeking permission. Jamie’s hands instinctively went to his shoulders. There was still an awkward distance between them several inches wide, but they began swaying from side to side, watching each other carefully. Finally, Mitch broke the tension with a smile.

“Sorry,” he said. “This is super awkward, isn’t it?”

Jamie gave a relieved laugh. “Little bit, yeah. Uh, why are we dancing?”

“You looked kinda upset over there, talking to him,” he shrugged. “Thought I might help. You know, give you an out.”

“My hero,” she teased, and he rolled his eyes. “Wait, weren’t you holding punch a second ago?”

“I gave it to Logan. I can’t dance with my hands full.”

Jamie nodded, grinning. “Ah, that’s right.”

They fell into a more comfortable silence and Jamie let her fingers curl around his neck, meeting at the nape, unconsciously bringing him closer. His brown eyes were still dancing with mirth even as the smile on his lips faded. Warm hands on her lower back, lightly tapping out the song’s beat and Jamie had a vague realization that in two and a half years of friendship, she’d never once seen Mitch dance. He was good at it.

Then, without warning, something in the air shifted, throwing Jamie into a state of hypersensitivity that made her very aware of every place their bodies touched. Her cheeks were blooming red and as she met his gaze again, something was different. A strange, raw honesty was shining in his eyes, one that caused a surge of emotion within her, frightening her in its intensity.

The tie was staring at her, mocking her, and suddenly it was all too much. The music, the crowd, and him—especially him. She couldn’t breathe with him staring at her like that, like she was the only other person in the room. Heart pounding, palms sweating, Jamie pulled away. She had to breathe. He asked her something. She didn’t hear, didn’t respond. Instead, she ran.

Outside, she could catch her breath and think again. She leaned against the brick wall, shivering in the cool air.

This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. It wasn’t supposed to be a date, dammit! It was supposed to be a ride from her best friend. She wasn’t supposed to be having all these feelings and wondering what it would be like to kiss him.

She heard the door open again, heard the music swell for a brief moment before quieting. Jamie kept her eyes down, feeling more vulnerable than she ever had as Mitch approached her. This was all oddly reminiscent of that October morning months ago, but she banished the thought. That was a much different situation.

“Are you okay?”

Jamie didn’t answer. It was cold—she instinctively reached up to pull her shawl tighter over her shoulders, but it was gone. She must’ve left it inside. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Mitch start to shuck off his jacket, and she held up a hand to stop him.

“I’m fine!”

“You’re cold,” He frowned. “I’m just trying to help.”

Jamie shook her head, curls bouncing. “You’re making it worse!”

“Making what worse? Jamie, what’s wrong?”

“You,” she pointed an accusatory finger at him, “are treating this like a date!”

“I am not!”

“Yes, you are!” She drew herself up to her full height which, even in heels, was significantly shorter than his. Nevertheless, she continued. “You’re holding open doors, and fetching me punch, and- and dancing with me!”

Mitch scoffed. “I was trying to be a gentleman, but—"

“What about the tie?”

That stopped him in his tracks and he almost looked embarrassed as he tried to shrug it off.

“That just… happened, okay? I didn’t mean to do it.”

Jamie quieted uncertainly, not looking at him. For a brief moment, she let herself entertain the idea that of dating Mitch. Actually going to prom with him, going on dates with him, kissing him. And again, that intense rush came over her, the one that terrified and thrilled her in equal measures. She still couldn’t figure out what that meant, but she had an idea of how to find out.

Face set in determination, Jamie approached Mitch, who instinctively took a step back.

“What are you doing?”

“Stand still,” she ordered, bringing her hands up to cup his face. “I wanna try something.”

Then, summoning all her courage, she kissed him.

His lips were warm and so much softer than they looked. It took him a second to register what she’d done and kiss her back but when he did, eagerly, Jamie nearly melted into it. Her hands slid back into his hair as she pressed herself against him, almost on her tiptoes. That same feeling was enveloping her again, all over, and she definitely wasn’t cold anymore.

Jamie had kissed boys before, but this, this was very different.

This was much better.

His tongue met hers in slow, deliberate strokes and she was certain she let out a greedy moan. This seemed to encourage him, pulling her even closer. But in a moment, they let the kiss soften and parted a fraction, eyes still closed, foreheads together.

“What took you so long?” Mitch panted, drawing an affronted laugh from her.

“Shut up,” was all she said before she pulled him back down for another kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, part of that last scene was influenced by the Gilmore Girls episode “Raincoats and Recipes.” And I wrote the line “we made a good team” BEFORE I saw the latest episode, in which Jamie literally said “we make a good team,” so that wasn’t supposed to be a reference, but I guess it is now. Also, we now have canon evidence that Mitch hates wearing ties, but whatever, okay? It’s a significant plot point.
> 
> Please review and let me know how I did!


End file.
